The Public Prosecution Service has demanded seven years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros against a 43-year-old man from Appingedam for leading a criminal organization. He is said to have imported 140 kilos of cocaine into the Netherlands and 63 kilos to Belgium. He is also said to have had three explosions carried out at homes in the Amsterdam region.
Process agreements
The demand is lower than would normally be the case, because the Public Prosecution Service and (the lawyer of) the suspect have signed a procedural agreement in this case. Normally a prison sentence of twelve years would have been required, the Public Prosecution Service says.
It has also been agreed that neither the Public Prosecution Service nor the defense will lodge an appeal. Furthermore, (some of) the research wishes will not be carried out (anymore) and the lawyer will not put forward any defenses regarding the evidence. Finally, the suspect gives up a seized firearm and a small amount of drugs and a telephone.
Effective
The signed agreement has now been submitted to the court. He can agree, but can also make his own decision about the punishment. This agreement will lapse if the court’s final judgment deviates by three months (more or less) from the seven-year sentence requirement.
The Public Prosecution Service says it wants to make the handling of this criminal case as efficient and effective as possible by making process agreements.
Excl
The suspicion is that the suspect was involved in drug trafficking together with others in 2022 and 2023. Cocaine was dissolved in several barrels of (frozen) fruit pulp.
This case stems from another major international investigation, in which the police and the Public Prosecution Service succeeded in reading data from the crypto communications service Exclu for five months. The Exclu service was an app on a smartphone with which encrypted messages could be sent secretly, out of the sight of the police and the judiciary.
Early last year, reading along led to 79 searches and 42 arrests in the Netherlands and Belgium, including the arrest of the man from Appingedam.
Explosions
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the Groninger is also (partly) responsible for three explosions in residential areas. These took place on November 20, 2022 in Amsterdam and on November 25, 2022 and December 9, 2022 in Diemen. Firework bombs that were placed at the front door of three homes went off there.
